HE'S BEING FOLLOWED BY MORE THAN A MOONSHADOW
By Jack Kus

United for Peace of Pierce County
September 22, 2004

--You know I've seen a lot of what the world can do/And it's breaking my heart in two. --Cat Stevens

Cat Stevens is being followed by more than a moonshadow. All I can say is: Thank God.

Thank God -- and you know which God I'm talking about -- that the USA PATRIOT Act considers giving to Muslim charities a form of terrorism.

Thanks to the USA PATRIOT Act, our ever-vigilant guardians of the national security state were able to place Yusuf Islam, the Greek-American convert to the Muslim "religion" formerly known as Cat Stevens, who now lives in Britain, on a no-fly list.

I mean, we're talking about a menace here -- the composer of "Peace Train," "Morning Has Broken," and "Wild World."

A real threat.

When, despite this precaution, the U.S. Department of Transportation learned on Tuesday through its Advanced Passenger Information System that an airline was bearing down on U.S. airspace carrying this dangerous individual -- a man who in the past has consorted with the likes of British Prime Minister Tony Blair, U.K. Home Secretary David Blunkett, and Prince Charles -- it sprang into action.

United Airlines Flight 919, headed toward Washington, D.C., was diverted to Bangor, Maine.

There, the author of "Where Do the Children Play?" was removed from the plane. Today he has been or soon will be deported back to Britain, "on national security grounds," said Homeland Security Department spokesman Dennis Murphy.

Thus the nation's capital was spared a dangerous encounter.

Whew!

The man is, after all, clearly capable of subversion.

Didn't he write these lines, for example: "Well you've cracked the sky, scrapers fill the air./But will you keep on building higher/'Til there's no more room up there?/Will you make us laugh, will you make us cry?/Will you tell us when to live, will you tell us when to die?"

What's that supposed to mean, huh? It sounds to me like a justification for the 9/11 attacks.

And just what was he implying when he wrote, in "Wild World": "But just remember there's a lot of bad, and beware"?

And don't the lines "Lord, my body has been a good friend,/But I won't need it when I reach the end" suggest self-destructive tendencies that could be exploited by organizers of suicide bombings?

I don't know about you, but the sooner he's out of the country, the safer I'll feel.

Is there any reason to let into the country a man who once wrote: "I have my freedom/I can make my own rules"? Or "I don't want to work away/Doing just what they all say"?

Who does this guy think he is?

Can there be any room in America for someone who once sang: "Don't you feel the day is coming/And it won't be too soon/When the people of the world/Can all live in one room"?

To think that as recently as May Yusuf Islam/Cat Stevens eluded the Dept. of Homeland Security and slipped into New York! For "a charity event"!! Oh, yeah, sure.

Did you hear me? New York! And this time he was headed for Washington! Connect the dots, for God's sake!

Maybe the Dept. of Homeland Security should have done with it and seize the wretch at once. There must be some empty cages in Guantanamo. Then he'd find out how wrong he was when he wrote: "Life is like a maze of doors/And they all open from the side you're on." Not the doors in Guantanamo, buster!

In any case, we don't need him here. After all, he'll never understand that the war on terrorism is the defining struggle of our time.

This man is hopeless! This is a man who once wrote: "No, I can't keep it in. I can't keep it in./I've got to let it out. I've got to show the world./The world's got to know,/Know of the love,/Love that lies low, so/Why can't you say--/If you know, then why can't you say--/You've got too much deceit,/Deceit kills the light,/Light needs to shine,/I said shine light,/Shine light . . ."

Enough. I feel ill.

Letters of appreciation to our alert guardians may be addressed to U.S. Secretary of Transportation Norman Mineta, Department of Transportation, 400 7th St., SW, Washington, DC 20590. Calls may be place to (202) 708-1112, and e-mail messages may be sent to: dot.comments@ost.dol.gov

1.

Business

Industries

Transportation

Airlines

Security

EX-POP SINGER HELD AFTER D.C. FLIGHT DIVERTED
By Sara Kehaulani Goo

** Former Pop Singer, Now Known as Yusuf Islam, Is on the U.S. No-Fly List **

Washington Post
September 22, 2004
Page A10

http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A39772-2004Sep21

U.S. security officials yesterday diverted a Washington-bound United Airlines flight and detained Yusuf Islam, formerly known as the pop singer Cat Stevens, after discovering that he had been allowed to board the plane in London even though he was on the government's no-fly list.

Islam was questioned in Bangor, Maine, by Customs and Border Protection agents. Dennis Murphy, spokesman for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, said Islam is scheduled to be deported today on a flight to Europe. "He is being detained on national security grounds," Murphy said. He declined to elaborate.

Islam was denied entry into Israel several years ago out of concerns that his charitable contributions had funded militant groups. He denied knowingly contributing to any such groups.

Homeland Security officials worked with the Federal Aviation Administration yesterday afternoon to order the United flight to land in Bangor, the closest major airport on the East Coast, after learning that Islam was on board the Boeing 747. Islam, whose name is listed as "Usef Islam," is on several government watch lists, including the no-fly list, according to sources familiar with the event.

While the flight was over the Atlantic, Customs and Border Protection agents were routinely comparing the passenger manifest against the watch lists and realized that Islam was on board, these sources said. Airline agents conduct similar checks before flights depart; it was not clear yesterday why Islam was not flagged before he boarded.

Transportation Security Administration spokesman Mark Hatfield said his agency made the decision to divert the flight. "We did not want that aircraft to enter the Northeast corridor airspace," which would have taken it over New York and into Washington, Hatfield said. "We got information that led us to make a decision, based on the fact there was a confirmed individual on board."

United Airlines declined to comment on the incident yesterday but said that its Flight 919 eventually continued to Dulles International Airport yesterday evening.

Islam recorded 12 albums before abandoning his singing career in the late 1980s after he converted to Islam. He drew criticism in the late 1980s after he publicly supported Ayatollah Khomeini's death edict against author Salman Rushdie. After the terrorist attacks in 2001, Islam said he would donate profits from his CD box set to families of the victims of the attacks.

--Staff researcher Don Pohlman contributed to this report.

2.

EX-POP STAR CAT STEVENS TO BE DEPORTED FROM U.S.
By Sue Pleming

Reuters
September 22, 2004

Original source: Reuters

WASHINGTON -- Ex-pop singer Cat Stevens, a Muslim, will be deported to Britain after being denied entry to the United States because his activities could be "linked to terrorism," a U.S. official said on Wednesday.

Arab-Americans and Muslims in Britain promptly voiced outrage over the treatment of Stevens, who is known as Yusuf Islam since he became a Muslim almost three decades ago.

Homeland Security spokesman Brian Doyle said Islam would be put on the first available flight back to Britain after his Washington D.C.-bound plane was diverted ---on Tuesday to Maine for security reasons.

"Why is he on the watch lists? Because of his activities that could be potentially linked to terrorism. The intelligence community has come into possession of additional information that further raises our concern (about Islam)," Doyle said.

A law enforcement official who asked not to be identified said the United States had information Islam had donated money to the militant Islamic group Hamas.

Islam was denied entry to Israel in 2000 after the authorities there accused him of supporting Hamas. The former pop star strongly denied the charges and said his charitable donations were for humanitarian causes.

Islam was traveling with his daughter on a United Airlines flight on Tuesday from London to Washington when it was diverted to Bangor, Maine.

A Homeland Security official said United Airlines employee missed Islam's name on the "watch lists" in Britain and that the plane was in flight when officials found a match from the advanced passenger information sent by the airline.

United Airlines spokesman Jeff Green said the carrier was asked by the Transportation Security Administration to divert the plane to Maine for security reasons.

A leading Arab-American group planned a news conference later to protest the move.

"When internationally respected Islamic personalities like Yusuf Islam and Professor Tariq Ramadan are denied entry to the United States, it sends the disturbing message that even moderate and mainstream Muslims will now be treated like terrorists," said Nihad Awad, executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, or CAIR.

Homeland security officials recently revoked the visa of Ramadan, a Swiss-based Islamic scholar who was due to begin teaching at the University of Notre Dame in Indiana. No explanation for the abrupt move was given.

In Britain, Muslim groups also decried the deportation of Islam, who heads a trust that oversees Muslim schools in the country. He has met with Prime Minister Tony Blair, Home Secretary David Blunkett and heir to the British throne Prince Charles.

"This incident comes only to confirm the farcical and ultimately draconian standards and practices exercised by U.S. immigration authorities," said Anas Altikriti, a spokesman for the Muslim Association of Britain.

CAIR spokesman Ibrahim Hooper pointed out that Islam had visited the United States in May and was not stopped then.

"The best case scenario is that it's a bureaucratic foul-up and his name was mixed up with someone else on the list. But what has happened sends a terrible message to the rest of the Muslim world," said Hooper.

Cat Stevens had a string of hits in the early 1970s including "Peace Train," "Moonshadow," "Morning has Broken" and "Wild World" before converting to Islam in 1977.

(Additional reporting by Deborah Charles)

3.

PASSENGER CAT STEVENS TO BE DEPORTED
Associated Press
September 22, 2004

http://www.ajc.com/news/content/news/ap/ap_story.html/National/AP.V6887.AP-Plane-Diverted.html

WASHINGTON -- Homeland Security officials said Yusuf Islam -- formerly known as singer Cat Stevens -- will be deported Wednesday after being denied entry to the U.S. for being on a government watch list.

The former singer was a passenger on United Airlines Flight 919, en route to Dulles International Airport from London when the match was made Tuesday between a passenger and a name on the watch list, said Nico Melendez, a spokesman for the Transportation Security Administration.

The plane diverted to Maine and met by federal agents at Bangor International Airport around 3 p.m. EDT, Melendez said.

Homeland Security Department spokesman Dennis Murphy identified the passenger as Islam. "He was interviewed and denied admission to the United States on national security grounds," Murphy said.

Officials had no details about why the peace activist might be considered a risk to the United States. Islam had visited New York in May for a charity event and to promote a DVD of his 1976 MajiKat tour.

One official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Islam, 56, was identified by the Advanced Passenger Information System, which requires airlines to send passenger information to Customs and Border Protection's National Targeting Center. The Transportation Security Administration then was contacted and requested that the plane land at the nearest airport, that official said.

Melendez said Islam was questioned by FBI and Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials.

Another federal official, who is in law enforcement and spoke anonymously because of agency policy, said that after the interview, Customs officials decided to deny Islam entry into the United States.

Flight 919 continued on to Dulles after Islam was removed from the flight.

Islam, who was born Stephen Georgiou, took Cat Stevens as a stage name and had a string of hits in the 1970s, including "Wild World" and "Morning Has Broken." Last year he released two songs, including a re-recording of his 1971 hit "Peace Train," to express his opposition to the U.S.-led war in Iraq.

He abandoned his music career in the late 1970s and changed his name after being persuaded by orthodox Muslim teachers that his lifestyle was forbidden by Islamic law. He later became a teacher and an advocate for his religion, founding a Muslim school in London in 1983.

Islam founded Islamia Primary school in London in 1983. In 1998, it became the first Muslim school in Britain to receive government support, on the same basis as Christian and other sectarian schools.

A statement posted on a fan-supported Web site where his music is promoted said Islam being on a watch list "is certainly an error."

"It's also a very sad state of affairs when a man best known as a peace-loving pop star can be grouped into the same category Osama Bin Laden just because of his chosen faith," the statement said.

Islam drew some negative attention in the late 1980s when he supported the Ayatollah Khomeini's death sentence against Salman Rushdie, author of *The Satanic Verses*. Recently, though, Islam has criticized terrorist acts, including the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks and the school seizure in Beslan, Russia, earlier this month that left more than 300 dead, nearly half of them children.

In a statement on his Web site, he wrote, "Crimes against innocent bystanders taken hostage in any circumstance have no foundation whatsoever in the life of Islam and the model example of Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him."

After the Sept. 11 attacks, Islam issued a statement saying: "No right thinking follower of Islam could possibly condone such an action: The Quran equates the murder of one innocent person with the murder of the whole of humanity."